FOCUS AREA: SKILLS




A MULTIPLICITY
OF SKILLS
IS NEEDED
TO SUCCEED
    Smart skills investments are essential for inclusive growth today
    and for being prepared for a future of rapid change.


    WHY IT MATTERS                                                    OUR APPROACH
    A skilled workforce is crucial to countries’ economic             A multiplicity of skills is critical to success in fast-
    transformation. It enables firms to move up the value chain,      changing labor markets and integrated economies. These
    adapt to economic changes, and adopt and spur innovation,         are: cognitive skills that include foundational literacy and
    while allowing workers to move out of low-productivity            numeracy as well as higher-order problem solving and
    activities—and earn more in their jobs. The demand for            creative thinking skills; social-emotional skills
    skills is rapidly changing. Digital technologies are leading to   such as self-control, grit, empathy, and curiosity; and
    automation of routine tasks and transforming or destroying        technical skills including acquired knowledge and
    jobs focused on routine and manual tasks. To accelerate           expertise specific to certain jobs. The World Bank works
    economic transformation, countries need to make smart             with governments to ensure that individuals have access
    investments in skills development aimed at three policy           to quality education and training opportunities for skills
    goals: productivity growth, inclusion, and adaptability of        development. We support employers in their efforts to
    both individuals and economies.                                   locate and invest in the skills they need. We use the Skills
                                                                      Toward Employment and Productivity (STEP) framework
                                                                      to analyze and build approaches for skills development
                                                                      strategies in low- and middle-income countries.
About one-third of the working-age population in low- and middle-
income countries lack the foundational skills required to get quality
jobs, leaving them unable to achieve their full productive potential
and limiting economic investment and growth.


OUR PRIORITIES:
1 Ensuring relevance of pre-employment                              3 Remedying basic skills gaps
technical education and training programs                           Many young people leave school without acquiring
Building job-relevant skills is central to the World Bank’s         basic literacy and numeracy skills, making them unable
current support for workforce development policies.                 to compete in the job market, acquire new skills, and
We promote the adoption of effective approaches for                 realize their full potential in life. The World Bank is
encouraging employers to provide more on-the-job                    ramping up its efforts to develop cost-effective adult
training or to partner with technical training providers so         literacy programs that incorporate the latest science
that job training reflects employers’ needs. This ensures           on how adults can best learn. The design and delivery
that employers have a say in the curricula and delivery of          of such programs should consider the specific needs,
technical and vocational education.                                 opportunity costs, and motivation of adult learners.

2 Supporting adult learning                                         4 Facilitating skills assessments
Rapidly changing demand for skills requires continuous              There are severe gaps in data on the skills of the
upskilling and reskilling of the workforce. In addition to          working-age population. Since 2010, the World Bank,
shoring up the important foundational cognitive and                 in collaboration with the OECD and academic experts,
social-emotional skills lacking in the current workforce,           has been pioneering efforts across the developing world
the World Bank supports efforts to create conditions                to measure and analyze the impact of cognitive, social-
for a market for lifelong education and training services.          emotional, and technical skills on social-economic
These include reforms to ensure that course offerings,              success within the working-age population. These
curricula, and pedagogy meet the demand for modular                 skills assessments, conducted through the STEP Skills
competencies and are more responsive to the diverse                 Measurement Program, have been effective in informing
age and experience profiles of workers as they shift                the design of skills strategies and programs tailored to
careers through their working lives.                                the diverse needs of the working-age population.




       educationgp@worldbank.org    worldbank.org/education    @WBG_Education Human Capital Project #INVESTinPeople